


Sincerely, Gilbert

by muchoblythed



Category: Anne of Green Gables - L. M. Montgomery, Anne with an E (TV)
Genre: AU, Anne and Gilbert, F/M, Queens Academy, Season 3 Spoilers, Shirbert, Take Notice Board, heart eyes, slowburn, tragical romance and all?
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-11-02
Updated: 2019-11-02
Packaged: 2021-01-15 00:29:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,301
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21244526
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/muchoblythed/pseuds/muchoblythed
Summary: "And although the room was crowded and the music slowly died, I could not escape that look of tenderness that wandered from your eyes to mine."





	Sincerely, Gilbert

**Author's Note:**

> this story is set during season 3 of anne with an e, after the glorious and perfect beyond words ep 5. this chapter is mostly just to set the scene for whats to come, happy reading shirbert nation  
-  
the quote is an excerpt from a later chapter of this story :)  


_He loves me._

Anne whispered into the star-filled sky that materialised into dancing constellations and illuminated the dew drops that covered the blossom tree, like lace.

Her eyes were wide with wonder and her cheeks tingled with bliss as they flushed a red as deep as a rosebud — though she figured that particular feeling could be more to do with the cold breeze that nipped at her skin as it wafted through her bedroom window than anything else.

Even so, the same could not be said about the way her heart fluttered countless times in her chest. It was like a rhythm. A piece of music that had not diminished since a few days prior when she had danced hand-in-hand with Gilbert Blythe.

Every touch had felt so perfect, so right — as if her whole existence had been leading to that moment entirely — as if her heart had been thwarted until that sublime afternoon.

She wondered how she could have missed such feelings before — how it was possible that she had simply kept them hidden from herself when they must have been pushing and prodding at her thoughts for so long — willing her mind into allowing them to escape.

The way his eyes — _those eyes_ — had gazed so longingly at her, she was sure she couldn't have made it up. They were so full of romance, just as Ruby Gillis had told her. It was a wonder to her that she hadn't realised what that look had meant until she found herself staring into his hazel eyes with the exact same look mirrored in her own.

She had simply perceived it as his way of observing what the world held, not knowing until recently that it was the way he had always gazed at her — and her alone — because the feelings were indeed reciprocated. Or, at least, she _hoped_ they were reciprocated.

It had dawned on her for a considerable part of her short life that she — an orphan girl of such homeliness and a lack of decorum — would be an ill match for any suitor that would cross her path. For wouldn't a man with desires to marry, be inclined to choose a more _presentable _girl?

Though Anne certainly didn't understand the latter — it would hardly seem a romantic way to spend one's life.

Anne felt as her eyes grew heavier with every thought — the simple outlines of distant dreams casting shadows on the moonlit walls of her gable room as she fell into her bed of clouds and comfort — exhaustion finally taking a toll on her.

She met Gilbert in her dreamland that night, her thoughts still lingering in the place of consciousness. His hair was just as curly and just as dark. His eyes were as hazel as the mossy bark of a tree. And his chin, _oh that splendid chin! _It was perfectly indescribable, even when wide awake.

She had uttered those very same words earlier that day when she had confided in her dearly beloved bosom friend, Diana Barry. It had been merely an hour since Gilbert had galloped gallantly to Green Gables when Diana had asked the dreaded question that Anne hadn't much time to ponder on — her mind a whirlpool of thoughts.

_"Do you have a crush on Gilbert?" _Diana had queried, though the tone in her voice was knowing.

Anne played the words back countless times, finding the very question daunting. Before that afternoon, she would've testified to no extent how utterly amusing such a notion would be. _Anne Shirley-Cuthbert having a crush on Gilbert Blythe? Certainly not! _But that was most outrageously not the case now.  
  
Anne knew the answer to her friend's question — for how could she speak of him with such adoration and grace without feeling _something. _Never had she spoken of anyone other than Gilbert in such a way that had her captivated, with her heart beating a million miles a minute at the very simple thought of him.

_"I like Gilbert!" _Anne had blurted out in astonishment and incredulity — finally giving an answer to the question — which appeared no surprise to Diana in the slightest.

With her persistent thoughts being what they were, Anne had seemingly not realised that minutes upon minutes had passed by and that Minnie May had burst out of Diana's wardrobe at the sudden outcry, where she must've been hiding since Anne had arrived._ The little devil was always up to something._

As Anne continued to reminisce in her slumber, Gilbert's hand slipped into her own and for a moment she was Elizabeth Bennet dancing with Mr Darcy, once again. She relished in the feeling of being _his, _even for just a split second, because nothing had ever felt so _right_ until now.

As morning swallowed up her dreams and seeped through the glass-paned window, she stirred back into the reality that was. The reality where she wasn't his.

She sighed in discontent but leapt out of bed in excitement, nonetheless, for today was the much-awaited county fair.

Brightly coloured tents had been scattered in perfect order around an empty field of fresh green grass that fine spring morning. Food stalls filled with the most delicious displays of ice cream, cakes and sweet treats welcomed the fairgoers in vast numbers and Anne found the whole array to be most enticing.

Her own cake was to be tasted that afternoon, one of many in a lineup of cake and pastry contests. She had nipped it out of dearly departed, Mary Lacroix's, recipe book in the hopes she could honour her memory. It had not long been since Mary's untimely passing and many among the town of Avonlea still grieved the loss of their darling friend.

She had such a kind soul — a beautiful nature in which all things blossomed at her touch. She was a kindred spirit — a blessing to the world — and when her heart finally stopped on April 6th, 1899, her loved one's hearts did too.

Smiling at the thought of her beloved friend, Anne allowed a tear to escape her eye. She missed Mary deeply, more than she had ever missed anyone before. She had not the time to grieve over her own parents' deaths — being only a baby when she had lost them — nor any memories to remember them by.

Mary would be different and Anne would see to it herself that Mary's daughter, Delphine, would grow up with tales of her wondrous mother that brought her into the remarkable world.

"Diana!" Anne called out as she spotted her bosom friend amongst the crowd, rushing over to her, soon engulfing each other in a hug.

"You haven't seen Gilbert, have you?" She asked almost desperately as she picked a small flower from beside her boot-clad feet, mindlessly pulling at the dainty white petals.

"Gilbert?" Questioned Diana, a small smirk playing on her lips. "No, I have not, I—"

Her voice trailed off, however, into the surrounding noises of the fair. Her face fell in great dismay as she sent Anne an apologetic look, which in turn made Anne gulp nervously at what it was that Diana had seen.

She turned around, anxiety's forming, and there he was — Gilbert Blythe as handsome as ever — walking arm-in-arm with a beautiful blonde girl. _No, not a girl, a woman._

Anne's heart sank in her chest and her eyes welled up with tears. She had never felt such a throbbing pain before — never felt so empty — as if she were merely a ghost floating outside of her body, watching her entire world fall down.

And as if it were possible for her heart to break even more than it already had, she plucked the final petal from her flower, allowing it to fall gracefully from her fingertips to the ground below.

_He loves me not._

**Author's Note:**

> if anyone wants to chat, find me on twitter ~ @blythesobrien


End file.
